Caster



Sept. 15, 1925.. 1,554,005

w. F. HEROLD CASTER Filed July 5, 1925 anbemtoz W q 9 a? fl 61410144041 Patented Sept. 15, 1925.

UNITED s ars-s WALTER. r. unnonn, or NEWARK, new JERSEEC; aserelten'ro rnn BA$$ICK COM? PANY, orv Brvrneneon'e, conntncrrconn coarom rton oncoimncarcogr.

Application fi led July 5,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, WALTER F. Hnnonn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Newark, in the coul ity of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Casters, of which the following is a specification,

The invention relates to castersand par ticularly-to a construction of spring frame or socket, and coacting parts,for use in connection with metal or other hollow legs of beds or other furniture. i

In the usual spring frameas now useda transverse top portion of rectangular shape is provided, through an opening in which the pintle extends, the frame having springarms extending downwardly fron i the top portion on opposite sides. A difliculty isapparent when this type of frame is used with the smaller sizes of caster, namely, that so little space is provided between the sides ofthe rectangular transverse top portion of the frame that a small pintle only can be used, or if a pintle of larger diameter, is used, the top frame portion will be unduly weakened by the comparatively large opening through which the pintle extends. 'f

One of the objects of my invention. is the provision of'a spring frame, the top portion which" is formed with'a more or less 'cir-I cular, or polygonal, shape, so that a larger opening, and hence a larger pintle, may be used in the smaller sizes ofYc'aster, while leaving ample room between the edge of the opening and the outer-edges of the top trans-- verse portion of the frame. I Another object of the invention is the provision ofa spring frame or socket member of novel and in proved form, which may be manufactured economically and which will be particularly effective in operation. In this construction the downwardly extending arms of the frame comprise pairsof strips crossing each other at an angle, so that the bottom outer edge of onestrip will lie more or less under. the upper outer edge of the other strip of the pair. Vith this arrangement the frame or socket mayreadily be pushed into position within a hollow leg, the spring arms pressing against the interior thereof. Force acting to withdraw the frame from the leg will cause the lower end portionsiof the crossed arms or strips to tend to spread apart and thusto engage more tightly against-the interior of the leg. This is so because of the was. Serial N6. Beater.

fact that the downwardly extending arms are inclinedto the axis of the leg,tso that the friction of the inner surfaceof the leg; againstfthe outer surfaceof an arm, when force is exerted to withdraw the frame, with a straight pull,- will act at an angle to the length of the arm" and hencewill" tend to cam it outward; 7

With such a construction the frame may economically'be formed from asinglerectangular blank' without cutting out or waste of any 'materiaL The construction may be used as a pintle frame with the pintle eX- tending through an opening in the upper transverse portion or the frame in which case the. manner in which the'downwardly extending arms are bent will give. a roughly circular, form .to the top transverse portion of the frame with theadvantage noted above. The construction is not, however, limited in its usefulness to this form of caster, and may,"for examplefbe used as a socket which isintend ed to" bepushed into position-within about legorthe like,*-in which it is intended ito'fremain, permanently; Other objects of the invention comprise the provision of various elements of con struction and combinations or parts, all as will be more fully described in the accoms panying specification.

In order that. theinven tion may be more clearly" understood attention is hereby directed to the accompanyingdrawings forming part'ofthis application; and illustrating one embodiment of the invention. In the drawings Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of a caster embodying the invention mounted in position within a hollow leg shown in section;

F 2 is a corresponding front elevation of the same, the legmount of thecaster and top transverse portion of the spring framev being shown insection; and

Figs. 3'and 4 are horizontalse'ctions taken respectively on 1ines'33 and 4- 4: of Fig. 1.

Referring to the. drawings, thel'caster" as illustrated comprises th'eusual horn '1, carrying a casteli wheel 2; thehornhaving a transverse top portion 3 to which is secured the pintle it to extend upwardly therefrom. leg supporting disc and legmount 5 is il lustratedas being carried by the pintl'e and mounted uponthe shoulder 6 at the lower end thereof.

The spring frame comprises a transverse top portion 7 having an axial opening therethrough through which extends pintle 4, the upper end of the pintle being upset or provided with lugs 8 in any usual way to prevent the frame from slipping off of the upper end of the pintle.

The spring frame is provided with downwardly extending arms which are bent to extend at an inclination to the vertical axis of the spring frame, or to the vertical axis of the hollow leg in which the frame is to be inserted. As shown, the downwardly extending arms of the frame preferably comprise pairs of strips, one of which crosses the other at an angle, and each of which crosses the vertical axis of the frame at an angle. Thus, as is shown in the drawings, the downwardly extending portion of .the

frame at one s1de comprises'a pair of strips -9, 10, while the downwardly extending portion of the frame on the opposite side com.- prises a pair of strips 9 10, the strip 9 being bent to extend over the strip 10 and the strip 9 correspondingly to extend over the strip 10 The downwardly extending portion of the frame comprising strips 9 and 10 is diametrically opposite to the portion comprising strips 9 and 10 strips 9 and 9 crossing the vertical axis of the frame in one direction, approximately parallel'to each other, while strips 10 and 10 cross the verticalaxis in the other direction, approximately parallel to each other.

7 The frameis bent to shape out of suitable spring metal and when the caster'is operatively positioned by pushing the frame and pintle into a hollow leg 11 the strips 9, 9 and portions of the strips 10 and 10 will press outwardly against the interior of the leg to hold the caster frictionally in position. The legmount 5 is illustrated as being used, although its use is not essential to the invention, and with this construction the lower ends of the spring strips will be confined by the vertical flange of the legmount when the caster is not positioned within a leg.

It will be noted that the adjacent downwardly extending portions of the frame, such as portions 9 and 10, are bent downwardly from the top transverse portion 7 in such a way that the top edge of the same, that is the intersection of the downwardly extending portions 9 and 10 with the plane of the top portion 7, will form a curve approximating a semi-circle, the same being also true in regard to the opposite arms 9 and 10 the intersection of which with the top transverse portion 7 roughly forms a semi-circle. Accordingly, a larger opening for the pintlethrough' the top portion 7 of the frame maybe provided, in the smaller sizes of caster, than could safely be pro- Vided, if the top transverse portion of the frame were formed as the usual rectangle. This is so, because with the construction described the metal of the top transverse frame portion surrounding the pintle opening will approximately form an annulus and the edge of the pintle opening will nowhere he as close to the outside edge of the top transverse portion as it would be if the top portion were rectangular, where the distance from the pintle opening to the adjacent side edge would necessarily be less than in the construction described. I

The construction may readily and economically be formed from a single rectangular strip of sheet metal by slitting the metal back a distance from the two ends of the rectangle, parallel to-the side edges, bending thevblank to cause the two end portions to extend downwardly on opposite sides from the intermediate portion, which latter portion is not slitted and is intended to form the top portion 7 of the frame, and then bending the portions of the slitted downwardly extending arms in opposite directions so as to cause each of the same to cross the other in the manner shown in the drawings. This operation may be so performed as to give the top'portion of the frame the approximately circular or polygonal form referred to. l

The amount of lateral bending to be given the sidearms of the spring frame may be determined more orles's by experiment. It may, however, very suitably be such as is shown in the drawings in which the lower ends of a pair of arms which approach each other at the bottom, such as the arms 9 and 10, will not quite meet when the caster is in its operative position, as shown in Fig. 1, the adjacent bottom edges of the opposite pair of arms, 9 and 10 also coming almost into engagement with each other at the opposite side of the frame.

When the frame is pushed into a hollow leg, as shown, the top transverse portion 7 of the frame will approximately fit within the interior of the leg, and will form a rigid strut to center the upper end of the pintle and prevent more than a very slight tilting of the same in any direction. The outer surfaces of the spring arms will frictionally engage and bear against the inner surface of the leg throughout the greater part of the lengths of the outermost arms 9, 9 and at the upper and lower portions of the undermost arms 10 and 10 When force acts on the caster to withdraw the same from the leg, as when the leg is lifted and the caster is to be withdrawn by a straight pull, or when the leg is raised and the weight of the caster creates a downwardly extending force, the friction exerted by the outer surfaces of the spring arms against the inner surface of the leg will, of course, be a verticalupwardly reacting force. Since the spring arms all'cross the verticalat an inclination the result of such force will be to tend to move the lower ends of the arms 9 and 10 further away from each other and the same inregard to the lower ends of'the arms 9 and 10 Moving the lower ends of each pair of arms further away from each other laterally tends, of course, to press them more firmly into engagement with the inner surface of the leg. It is, therefore, apparent that force acting to withdraw the frame from the leg tends to cause the frame to bind more tightly within the leg. In the case of a frame which is intended to be withdrawn from the leg at intervals, such as the spring frame of a removable caster, such as that shown in the drawings, the frame should of course not bind so tightly as to prevent such withdrawal. With a spring frame having properly proportioned arms similar to that shown in the drawings, the result of the action referred to will be to cause the frame to hold firmly in position but to enable the same to be withdrawn by a moderate pull.

It will be noted that, in the form of the invention shown in the drawings, each arm or strip of the frame, such as 9, is bent laterally to extend across the vertical axis of the frame in one direction, at an angle to said axis, while the other arm or strip of the coac-ting pair of arms, such as the strip 10, extends across the axis from the opposite side thereof, at a similar angle thereto. The arms also of course extend laterally at an angle across vertical elements of the inner surface of the leg. The outer surfaces of the arms being preferably somewhat curved laterally, as stated, at least adjacent the upper edges thereof, these outer surfaces will engage against the inner surface of the leg, and the spreading apart of the lower ends of the strips of each pair of arms, caused by a downward pull on the caster, will press the outer side edges of the lower ends of the arms more firmly against the inner surface of the leg. It should also be noted that the crossing of one arm over the other, in the form of construction shown, stiffens and reinforces the spring arms.

It should be understood that the invention is not limited strictly to the details of con struction which have been particularly illustrated and described but that the same is of considerable breadth, as is indicated by the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a caster, a spring frame, adapted to be inserted within an opening in a leg, comprising a transverse top portion and downwardly extending arms, each arm comprising a pair of strips, one inside the other, one strip of each pair being bent laterally to extend across the other, at an angle thereto.

In a caster, a spring frame, adapted to be insertedwithina round hollow leg of uniform section, comprising a transverse top portion ofapproximately circularshape and downwardly extending spring arms adapted to press against the interior surface of the leg throughout the greater portions'of their. length, and bent to extend across vertical elements of said surface at inclinations thereto, certain of said arms crossing over and lying against others thereof.

3. In a caster, a spring frame, adapted to be inserted within an opening in a leg, comprising a transverse top portion of approximately circular shape, and downwardly extending spring arms, adapted to press against the interior surface of the leg at various points thereon, said arms being bent laterally to extend across vertical elements of said'surface at inclinations thereto, certain of said arms crossing over and lying against others thereof.

4;. In a caster, a spring frame, adapted to be inserted within an opening in a leg, comprising a transverse top portion and downwardly extending arms comprising a pair of strips on one side and a similar pair of strips on the opposite side, each pair comprising a strip bent laterally to extend at an inclination across the vertical axis of the frame from one side thereof to the other, and another strip inside the first, bent laterally to extend at an inclination across the vertical axis of the frame, from the second mentioned side thereof to the first mentioned side thereof.

5. In a caster, a spring frame adapted to be inserted within a hollow leg, comprising a transverse top portion and integral arms extending downwardly on opposite sides thereof, comprising pairs of strips, one bent to extend over the other at an inclination to the vertical and the other bent to extend at the inner side of the first at the opposite inclination, the lower ends of said strips oc cupying approximately the periphery of a circle, with the lower ends of certain arms brought close to, but out of contact with, each other.

6. In a caster, the combination of a caster horn and pintle extending upwardly there from, and a spring frame having a trans verse top portion with a central opening therethrough, through which said pintle extends, the edge of said top portion being shaped so that all edge portions thereof are approximately equidistant from said opening, said frame having spring arms extending downwardly from said edge, adapted to press against the interior surface of a hollow leg in which the frame is inserted, and bent laterally at an angle.

7. In a caster, the combination of a caster horn and pintle extending upwardly therefrom, and a spring frame having a transverse top portion with a central opening therethrough through which said pintle exthe first, bent laterally to extend at an intends, and having downwardly extending clination across the vertical axis of the 10 arms comprising a pair of strips 011 one side frame, from the second mentioned side and a similar pair of strips on the opposite thereof to the first mentioned side thereof.

side, each pair comprising a strip bent later- In testimony whereof I have signed my ally to extend at an inclination across the name to this specification.

vertical axis of the frame from one side 7 thereof to the other, and another strip inside WALTER F. HEROLD. 

